Payden Knettles '21 Recruiting Profile

Deep sleep broken by the 5 AM alarm.   Goggle tan lines rim the eyes.   Chlorine scent masks the body.   Dark brown hair turns shades of blond.    These are signs of a dedicated swimmer.   This is me.    

 Although I joined competitive swimming later than most of my teammates, I have spent the last eight years committed to this sport and the endless training required to improve my strokes and my times.   I set goals for myself each season and challenge myself to become stronger and faster in order to attain those goals, if not exceed them.

 As much as I have put into swimming over the years, belonging to this sport has given me back so much more.   Swimming gave my once shy and introverted self a voice.   It taught me to be self-confident and proud of my accomplishments regardless of how small, because even one-hundredths of a second can make your personal best time.   Swimming also taught me to accept my setbacks not as failures but as a challenge to do better next time, because every meet can’t be a great meet.   It taught me responsibility by giving me my first job opportunity teaching swim lessons to young children with Swim America, and also working as a certified American Red Cross lifeguard.  It taught me self-discipline to prioritize my time and what’s important, because finding time for my family, school and work needs to co-exist with the hours of swim practice and weekend swim meets.  Finally, swimming has taught me the true meaning of teamwork, because the motivation and support my teammates and I give each other may be what someone needs to get through a long hard set or that extra push to achieve his/her personal best.  

 My parents have always instilled in me to work hard both in the pool and out.    I am an All-A, National Honor Society student taking a rigorous curriculum of all AP core classes, while being involved in high school swimming and school clubs, like Peer Ministry, Student Ambassador and doing after-school tutoring.   I also volunteer my time supporting various non-profit community events throughout the year and have already exceeded my school’s community service hours requirement for graduation.

 Dedicated.  Ambitious.  Driven.  Responsible.  Disciplined.   Hard-working.   Team-player.   Leader.    These are signs of someone open to growth in order to excel.   This is me.    I welcome the opportunity to continue swimming at the collegiate level for a school and team where I know I can have a  positive impact,  while continuing to learn and grow academically and athletically into becoming a dynamic and successful adult. 

My CollegeSwimming.com profile ——> https://www.collegeswimming.com/swimmer/542157/